The First Order

In modern warfare, there were myriad uses for gasoline and diesel. Without it, mechanical equipment such as tanks, trucks, and off-road vehicles could not be operated. How were the tanks supposed to operate when the time came for them to roll out? Would the armored brigade troops push them into battle?

So when this suggestion was proposed, everyone’s eyes lit up. Jiao Xiaochen said, “I’m guessing that the Zong Consortium’s attention is already on us, so it won’t be easy for us to launch another attack on Stronghold 144. But we’re a highly mobile force and can take the battle elsewhere quickly.”

Zhang Xiaoman felt like he could already see the end of this war. “That’s right. If we can lay waste to all of the Zong mechanized troops, I would definitely protest against Commander Zhang, the old bastard, if he doesn’t award us the Nebula Prize!”

Everyone looked at the arrogant Zhang Xiaoman without saying a word. Zhang Xiaoman rubbed his face in awkwardness and coughed. “Excuse me, I got too proud.”

Zhang Xiaoman was the typical thug in their company. Ren Xiaosu said, “We still haven’t gotten down to cutting off the supply lines for their oil supply. But since we’re about to depart from this area, we have to bring something with us to eat. Who knows if it’ll be easy to look for food farther in the north? Once we find the oil refineries there, we’re gonna destroy them all!”

The plan was immediately put into effect. The Razor Sharp Company set off the next day. Since Ren Xiaosu had already revealed his Steam Locomotive power, there was no point in holding back anymore.

In this war, Ren Xiaosu was no longer apprehensive about keeping too many secrets. Instead, he tried to come up with more ways to use his powers to the best of their potential so he could live up to his determination of getting revenge.

In the morning, the Razor Sharp Company took the steam locomotive as they prepared to ambush the convoys traveling on the supply lines. While they waited, they were bored out of their wits. But before any convoys could arrive, they heard a loud rumbling.

This distant rumble sounded like heavily armored vehicles rolling across the ground. Ren Xiaosu wondered, “What’s that sound?”

“We’ve got fucking tanks incoming!” Zhang Xiaoman was startled. He picked up his binoculars and observed the troops that had just appeared on the horizon. “What are these mechanized troops doing here? Shouldn’t they be engaged in battle at Mt. Wuchuan? Or is our intel outdated? How has the situation changed at the front lines?”

Fu Rao muttered, “Could we have already lost?”

The Razor Sharp Company fell silent for a moment. That was actually a very reasonable assumption. After all, why would an armored brigade suddenly appear at the rear if the war hadn’t ended yet?

And from the looks of it, the armored brigade even seemed like they were still at full strength.

“That’s impossible.” Zhang Xiaoman firmly denied it. “Even if the Zong Consortium is really strong, we still have a lot of Fortress 178 troops in the war. So how can we be defeated so quickly? These mechanized troops must be here for us!”

Pfft! Ren Xiaosu who was next to him drinking from a canteen spat out a mouthful of water onto Zhang Xiaoman. Zhang Xiaoman wiped his face and said unhappily, “What’s wrong?”

“An entire armored brigade coming to fight an infantry company like us?” Ren Xiaosu was shocked but could not figure out why this armored brigade would appear here either. “Has the Zong Consortium gone mad?”

Didn’t their Razor Sharp Company only wipe out several of the Zong Consortium’s companies, a few convoys, and several junior officers while giving their recon battalion the slip for two days?

‘Well, alright, although we did go a little overboard, that still shouldn’t warrant sending an entire armored brigade to attack us! Is there really a need for that? Huh? Is there? Are you a sore loser?!’

“What should we do now?” Zhang Xiaoman looked to Ren Xiaosu.

“What’s the point of fighting if they’re really here for us?” Ren Xiaosu said. Who knows how painful it would be for him if the tanks fired at the steam locomotive? He did not even know if he could endure such great pain.

“Retreat, retreat! If this armored brigade is really here for us, it’ll be a great achievement if we can lure them away from the front lines.” Zhang Xiaoman was not panicking and even got a little excited as he said, “Let’s head north now to attack the oil refineries!”

The Zong Consortium’s headquarters had just come up with their next battle plan as the original needed revising. This was because Fortress 178’s troops had suddenly started attacking them relentlessly at Mt. Wuchuan, putting immense pressure on them.

The two sides had been probing the other’s strength with their attacks. But all of sudden, it had turned so intense that it felt like it was the final battle already.

This was Fortress 178 trying to buy time and space for the Razor Sharp Company in case the Zong Consortium deployed more troops back to the rear to deal with them.

And they were successful in achieving this objective. The Zong Consortium’s frontline commander, Zong Ying, was calling Zong Wu three times a day to request him to divert the armored brigade back to the front lines. In the end, Zong Wu ignored him, which left Zong Ying fuming mad!

This was too maddening!

He was even tempted to tell Zong Wu that he would make up for the gold he lost, so just hurry up and bring the armored brigade back to the front line!

At this moment, the generals at the Zong Consortium’s headquarters knew that Zong Wu was likely to leave the Zong Consortium for good after capturing that person who had seized his gold. It was either that, or he would end up forming a new consortium of his own. After all, Zong Wu did control an army now, and that was something that could truly help him survive in this chaotic world.

But would the Zong Consortium let him off so easily? Zong Ying had attached two supernatural beings to Zong Wu’s forces to hunt down the Razor Sharp Company together. However, these two supernatural beings had another mission as well. After the primary objective was achieved, they would immediately kill Zong Wu to prevent the armored brigade from leaving with him.

Moreover, if Zong Wu were not dead, how would Zong Ying establish his authority in the future? How would he answer to the elders of the Board?

“Zong Wu will definitely not return to Mt. Wuchuan. We’ll have to think of another plan,” Zong Ying said with a dark expression.

But at this moment, a staff officer came in to report, “Those troops from Fortress 178 in our rear have suddenly destroyed three of our oil refineries in a day!”

Zong Ying jumped out of his seat. “They destroyed what?!”

“Our oil refineries. But there’s no need to worry, Commander. It was just the cooking oil refineries that were destroyed,” the staff officer hurriedly explained.

Zong Ying heaved a sigh of relief. “Why the fuck did those Fortress 178 troops destroy those factories? So that we won’t have oil to cook with? Or did they have other goals?”

One of the generals hesitated for a moment before asking, “Could it be that they were trying to destroy our crude oil refineries but blew up the wrong targets?”

“That’s impossible.” Zong Ying coldly rejected this possibility. “How could such elite troops make such a rookie mistake? They must have some other motives. Send orders down to study the connection between the oil refineries that were destroyed!”

A general asked, “But what if they really just wanted to destroy our crude oil refineries?”

Zong Ying hesitated for a moment. “Tell the crude oil refineries to go on full alert! Raise the readiness of the garrison troops at those refineries!”

The crude oil refineries had their own garrison forces to defend them. If Ren Xiaosu and the others knew the importance of fuel in wartime, how could the Zong Consortium not know?

Meanwhile, Jiao Xiaochen was complaining to Zhang Xiaoman on the train, “Captain, if we can’t find the right target next time, why don’t we just give up? The Zong Consortium must’ve started taking precautions at those refineries.”

Zhang Xiaoman shouted at the top of his lungs, “Can you blame me for that? Huh? When we questioned the refugees on where the oil refineries were, they were so enthusiastic to answer us. At that time, none of you doubted what they said either, so why are you blaming me now!”

“We aren’t blaming you….”

Listening to this noise, Ren Xiaosu could feel the back of his head throbbing.